OFF THE WIRE
Eric Thibault
torontosun.com
Nineteen Hells Angels members and associates remain on the lam nearly two years after they escaped the biggest biker bust in Canadian history.
The names and faces of the wanted men have been posted on the websites of the RCMP and Interpol, the international crime-fighting agency that’s active in 188 countries.
Police insist they’re still hot on the trail of those who so far have gotten away with murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism.
“These files are as hot as they were at the start of the operation,” Quebec provincial police Sgt. Richard Gagne told QMI Agency. “There is still work to do to find these men.”
Project Sharqc involved 1,200 police officers and led to the arrests of 137 bikers and associates in April 2009. Defendants will be prosecuted in groups of eight or nine in a series of mega-trials scheduled to begin next month.
The last biker to be arrested was Normand (Casper) Ouimet, who was picked up outside his Montreal dentist’s office last fall and now faces 22 counts of murder.
Interpol has files on the 17 Hells members and two associates who are still at large. The fugitives have also been flagged with a “red notice” designation that would allow foreign police forces to arrest and detain them pending extradition to Canada.
Last year Mexican police used Red Notice markers to arrest Hells members Yannick Gauthier and Martin Robert while the pair were living under false names.
